damnation!
sorry.
thank you. did you finish the upper field?
those swimming breaks cut into the day, don't they?
thank you. how's the spotted one's milk?
 and they bundled half.  almost no trace of the boys you knew.
 no, she still hasn't spoken.  margaret was her age when you.  i remember the time at the river when we couldn't find catherine.  you couldn't stop crying.  and she was asleep in the wagon the entire time.
your children.
i smell turnips.
samuel, william, both of you clean it up.
the assembly has been reconvened, i've been called to.
we'll leave tomorrow.
i love turnips.
the middle colonies?
anything about the convention in philadelphia?
they're from good stock on their mother's side.
you look well, charlotte.
inside, all of you.
very well.
what news?
is that why the assembly was convened?
and the governor?
which would force our delegates in philadelphia to vote for independence.
our governor is a bigger fool than i thought.
mister robinson, tell me, why should i trade one tyrant, three thousand miles away, for three thousand tyrants, one mile away?
an elected legislature can trample a man's rights just as easily as a king can.
it's mister marion.
if you mean by a patriot, am i angry at the townsend acts and the stamp act? then i'm a patriot. and what of the navigation act? should i be permitted to sell my tobacco to the french traders on martinique? yes, and it's an intrusion into my affairs that i can't.  legally.
and what of the greedy, self-serving bastards who sit as magistrates on the admiralty court and have fined nearly every man in this room. should they be boxed about the ears and thrown onto the first ship back to england? i'll do it myself. and do i believe that the american colonies should stand as a separate, independent nation, free from the reins of king and parliament? i do, and if that makes a patriot, then i'm a patriot.
but if you're asking whether i'm willing to go to war with england, the answer is, no. i've been to war and i have no desire to do so again.
i was intemperate in my youth. my departed wife, god bless her soul, dampened that intemperance with the mantle of responsibility.
harry, harry, harry.
wasn't it a union jack we fought under?
thirteen years.
you were an englishman then.
we don't have to go to war to gain independence.
there are a thousand avenues, other than war, at our disposal.
royal petition, delegates to court, judicial redress, economic boycott, bribery.
 time, royal succession, regicide, bribery.
we do not have to go to war to gain independence.
i have seven children. my wife is dead. who's to care for them if i go to war?
that's what i'm doing. i will not fight and because i won't, i will not cast a vote that will send others to fight in my stead.
i'm a parent, i don't have the luxury of principles.
nay.
when you have children, i hope you'll understand.
do you intend to enlist without my permission?
gabriel.
no, thank the lord. he's more like his mother.
thank you.
not yet, thomas.
seventeen.
god willing.
six-pounders. lots of them.
four, five miles.
just east of it.
don't worry.
no, there'll be skirmishers on the roads. we're safer here.
put those away.
put them away.
enough. i'll be in the workshop. samuel, the cows. thomas, attend to your studies here on the porch. nathan, on the back porch. if you see anyone, come get me. margaret, please keep william close to you. no one is to go past the yard wall.
children.
up to the house, now. all of you, come on. now.
gabriel!
margaret, get bandages and water. thomas, the porch, eyes open.
not yet. what happened?
they had surrendered?
you're in no condition to ride.
margaret, take william and susan down to the root cellar. thomas, go to the back porch. nathan and samuel, the side windows. keep out of sight.
he's dead.
thomas, help me turn him over.
thomas!
sergeant, there are seventeen wounded men here. seven redcoats and ten patriots, counting my son inside. that puts me in a difficult position.
you three are the least severely wounded. i have to ask you to leave and find care elsewhere.
there are rules, even in war.
after the battle of ashuelot river, against the french, i got this and the one on my leg. i couldn't walk. washington had to march north. he left me with other wounded men and a like number of french prisoners. nine for nine. when the french found us, their surgeon gave me the best of care. we'll be safe this way.
your best chance is in bennington, seven miles east, along the river road.
thank you.
colonel, he's a dispatch rider and that's a marked dispatch case.
colonel.
a dispatch rider with a marked case cannot be held for spying.
but.
colonel, i beg you, please reconsider. by the rules of war, a dispatch rider with a marked case.
no lesson is necessary.
lieutenant, please.
quiet.
don't move.
nathan, samuel.
margaret, take william and susan to the river shed. hide there. if we're not back by dawn, go up the river to the richardson's house. they'll take you to your aunt charlotte's farm. nathan, samuel, and i are going to get gabriel.
leave him. take care of william and susan.
nathan, there. samuel, there.
i'll fire first. then, nathan, kill whoever is standing closest to gabriel. samuel, kill the last man in the line.
after that, samuel, load for nathan. if something happens to me, put down your weapons and run as fast as you can, that way, downhill. hide in the brush by the river, then make your way home, get the others and go to aunt charlotte's farm.
boys.  steady.
samuel, reload. nathan, untie gabriel.
there, there.  he's alright.  he's with your mother now.
lord, we pray that you accept this child, thomas marion and give him a place at your side with his mother. we ask that you embrace him and help us to understand the manner in which your mercy works. this we ask, in your name. amen.
sleep, now.
don't blame yourself, you did what i told you to do.
try to get some sleep.
how did this.  how did i let this happen?
i should have known.  once i would have.  i used to be wary.  and today i watched my son killed before my eyes.  your sister civilized me and i damn myself for having let her.
i've done nothing and for that i am ashamed.
i'll leave in the morning with gabriel.
i don't know, william.
goodbye?
just one word? goodbye? that's all i want.
no, it's too late.
command posts.  patriot.  british.
break for the trees.  break for the trees.
send them to cover! goddamn you!
it's already over.
green dragoons came to my home, killed my son, thomas. it was tarleton himself.
i'm sorry i wasn't here for this.
we saw.
where is he now?
who's in command?
what are my orders?
so now cornwallis will head north, link up with clinton and finish off washington.
when?
long time.
so you're going to try to keep cornwallis in the south until then.
you expect cornwallis to be held here by militia?
they're nothing but farmers and you're asking them to try to keep a tiger in their backyard. they'd be better off letting it move on.
how many men does cornwallis have under his command?
i'll do what i can.
we put out the word. we'll start along the south side of the santee.
it's safer if we stay together.
oh?
is that so?
did your father teach you humility?
alright, corporal, you take bennington, harrisville, acworth and the farms along black swamp. i'll take the north side of the river. we'll meet at snow's island.
and, corporal.  .  be careful.
i'm looking for john billings.
if he comes back from the dead, tell him francis marion is looking for him.
i'll wait. miracles happen.
i expect to try.
it worked. how many men can you raise?
you coming, or not?
is it?
how old are you?
god help us all when you're forty.
reverend.
dalton.
you all have your own reasons for being here. i lost a son and i intend to kill the man who killed him.
 but i don't consider that man's life adequate payment for the life of my son, and killing him won't keep the sons of other men from dying.
cornwallis has to move north. we have to keep him right here. if he's south of the chesapeake when the french arrive, if the french arrive, we have a chance of winning this war.
eat, get some rest, we move out in two hours.
flanking riders?
epaulets first.  kill the officers.
the wagons!
swage, broach, etching tool.
we'll need a forge.
we've got clay to make a chamber.
and we can yank a wagon wheel, weight it, rig a piston and drive shaft and we'll have a flywheel to power the bellows.
put that pistol down!
stay.  stay.  stay.
don't you growl at me!
now let's see what's in this wagon.
these four wagons must be his.
his journals, letters, maps, books.
today was hard earned but a good start.
in the future wounded british soldiers will be given quarters.
you have my sympathy.  but the order stands.
i'm your commanding officer. this is militia, not regular army. i can't hold you here, but as long as you stay, you'll follow my orders.
for what?
don't depend on my decency. i'm one of that sort.
you're the worst of that sort. you're the sort that gives that sort a bad name.
i'm going to check the watch.
i've just been inside the mind of a genius. lord cornwallis knows more about war than i could in a dozen lifetimes.
his victories at charleston and camden were perfect, strategically, tactically, logistically. but he has a weakness.
lord cornwallis is brilliant. his weakness is that he knows it.
pride is his weakness.
pride will do.
we can't pay for this.
nice to see you again, anne.
 and your terms of enlistment will be month-to-month. every thirty days you can re-enlist or return to your families.
talk to abner and scott about provisions, powder and mounts.
no, he takes after his mother.
 the younger ones barely remember her but gabriel spent more time with elizabeth.  she taught him well, guided him, she was his north star and mine.  her father was a minister, in boston, did you know that?
 gabriel's already a better man than i could ever hope to be.
what do you mean, old and ugly?
the hell i do.
gabriel? are you asleep?
sergeant, this road is closed. those wagons now belong to the continental army.
sergeant, there's no reason for you and your men to die. just leave the wagons and go.
it's a trap.
go!
that's him. tarleton.
damn you! let go!
i should have killed him when i had the chance?
no.
stay the course.  your mother used to say that to me when i'd get drunk or lose my temper.
you learned her lessons better than
thank you.
i'm familiar with appropriate behavior at a military parley.
that will be all, major. i'll wait for lord cornwallis.
one other thing.
the proper form of address to a superior officer, even one of an opposing army, is "yes, sir."
go.
my pleasure, sir.
apology accepted.
colonel will do.
shall we proceed?
i'm familiar with how a formal negotiation is handled.
i served in his majesty's army in the french and indian war.
unless you would like to claim aggrieved status.
very well, proceed, sir.
i will do so as soon as possible.
please accept my apology for not having done so sooner.
that one is a bit more difficult.
and what are inappropriate levels of hostile attention?
restrain them from the targeting of civilians, including women and children?
i consider them linked.
as long as your soldiers attack civilians, i will order the shooting of your officers at the outset of every engagement. and my men are excellent marksmen.
prisoner exchange.
you have eighteen of my men. i want them back.
if that's your position, then eighteen of your officers will die. nineteen, if you hang me with my men.
in the clearing, just down from the crest, to the left of the dark pines.
they refused to give me their names. their ranks are nine lieutenants, five captains, three majors and one fat colonel who called me a cheeky fellow. their posts? we picked them up here-and-there last night.
if your conduct is the measure of a gentleman, i take that as a compliment. get my men.
thank you, general. i'm sure your officers will thank you, as well.
you don't remember me, do you?
yes, ugly business.
if you are alive when this war is over, i'm going to kill you.
she spoke? susan spoke?
i don't believe it.  and i wasn't there for it.
tell me everything she said, word for word.
she said that? oh, my lord, she said that?
isn't that something.
what?
i'd be honored.
granted. where are you going?
it's beautiful there. your mother and i were there once, before you were born.
she would have been pleased.
it's alright. i'm very happy for you.
it's a good measure of a woman that she'll have her honeymoon under the stars.
where?
five day furlough for all men. abner, dan, reverend, spread the word. we'll reform at acworth. any man who doesn't come back won't be thought a coward or uncommitted to the cause. attend to your families.
thank you.
susan.
the overlook, up there should be where you post the watch. work out a schedule. short watches, especially at night. if you can catch some of those mockingbirds you can make cages and put them along there for alarms. now let's find someplace to cache extra weapons.
good apple.
very good. sweet.
yes, of course.
no.
no.
when?
congratulations.
excuse me?
i know that.
of course, i do.
just a little goodbye? one word? that's all i want to hear.
goodbye, charlotte.
i'll come back.  i promise.
how many came back?
don't go in there.
she is. don't go in there.
you know what happened.
everyone knows. it's what made me a hero. me, harry lee, all of us. i got a medal. men bought me drinks. they still do sometimes. everyone knows what happened.
and what do they know?
that's right.
your mother asked me the same question around the time you were born. i was drunk and i was foolish enough to answer her.
that's why it was four years between you and thomas. it took me that long to regain her respect.
it was in '63. it was a bad time. the french and the cherokee had raided along the blue ridge. all the english settlers took refuge at fort wilderness but the french captured it. we were sent in relief. harry lee, billings, sixty of us. we already had something of a reputation for being.  harsh. when we got there the fort was abandoned. not a french soldier or cherokee anywhere. they had left a week earlier. what we found was.  bad.
they had left the settlers there. the men had been burned alive, the women were in pieces and the children were on stakes.
we buried them, then we went to track. it was a cold trail and they were moving fast. we went faster. we caught up to them at kentucky ford.
we took our time with them and gave every one of them worse than they had given at the fort. it was two weeks before they were all dead, all except two. we put the heads on a pallet and had the two we let live take it to the french at fort ambercon. the eyes, fingers and tongues we put in a basket and sent that down the asheulot to the cherokee. the french stayed east of the blue ridge after that and the cherokee broke their treaty with the french and stayed out of the fight. that seemed to make a difference. the war went another year, things went better.  and men bought us drinks.
it was a different time, son. and you're a better man than that.
yes.
if this war is about more than thomas, it's about more than anne, as well. stay the course.
his wife was killed yesterday. she was with child.
that means they have two hours on us.
let me help you.
he looks as if he's sleeping, doesn't he?
don't touch him.
two. gabriel and thomas.
it is ended.
take this to general washington.
colonel francis marion.
gray.
i lost another a year ago, thomas. he was only fifteen.
remember braddock?
worse.
then you must let the message go through.
no, he won't. there are two things you need to know about cornwallis. first, he is a very proud man, he would rather risk defeat than share a victory. if you give him what he thinks is an out, he'll take it.
i'll let him tell you himself.  ".  but it is this colonial militia that is the most irksome. not worthy of my attention, but demanding it; not worthy of british blood, but taking it; and not worthy of a soldier's honor, but sullying it. those nights of mine that are not sleepless, are filled with dreams of a cavalry charge on the heels of fleeing farmers"
he has no respect for citizen soldiers. that's your bait.  militia.
the british army believes in officers. i believe in soldiers. after we engage, there will be no more orders. every man here must know what i'm about to tell you.
we are the bait in a trap. we're militia. cornwallis thinks we're rabble, nothing more than a bunch of undisciplined farmers. and if he thinks that's what we are, that's what we're going to give him. listen up.
goodbye, harry.
and congratulations on the birth of your son.
i hope so.
your son, what did you name him?
a good name for a farmer.
two pounds, fourteen ounces.
damnation!